Erdogan to visit Russia ‘soon’: Turkish official

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia’s coastal city of Sochi “soon,” a Turkish official said on Monday.

“Our president has so far carried out the initiative with the highest diplomatic sensitivity so that the world does not face a food crisis. He will have a visit to Sochi soon,” Omer Celik, the spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party, said in the capital Ankara.

After the visit, Celik said, there may be new developments about the Black Sea grain deal.

Currently, Türkiye continues its efforts to revive the Black Sea grain deal, and says that there is no alternative to the initiative.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is also expected to visit Russia soon to hold face-to-face talks for the resumption of the deal.

On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, brokered by Türkiye and the UN to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were paused after th e Russia-Ukraine war started in February 2022.

Moscow has repeatedly complained that the West has not met its obligations regarding Russia’s own grain exports. It says restrictions on payments, logistics, and insurance have been a barrier to its shipments.

Ankara has been carrying out intense efforts for the restoration of the July 2022 deal and has also called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations.